Not-so spontaneous applause as 'batka' fuels Belarus unrest
Thousands of Belarusians have participated in "flash-mob" clapping rallies in Minsk to protest president Lukashenko's reckless economic policies.
Thousands of Belarusians have participated in "flash-mob" clapping rallies in Minsk to protest president Lukashenko's reckless economic policies.
Aggressive Sri Lankan government forces continue to push deeper into the Tamil Tiger heartland and are now within reach of their administrative capital, raising hopes that the end of a brutal 25-year civil war may be near.
The military campaign has benefited from an international crackdown on the Tigers' fundraising and smuggling networks, and high-level defections that have undermined grassroots Tamil support for its iron-willed chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran.
SOUTH BASTAR — Two years ago, Comrade Sunil used his given name and spent half the day at school, the remainder working the red fields of his ancestral village.
This all changed one night when he found his home torched and his brother dead outside, allegedly shot by state-sponsored civilian militia on the pretext of being a Maoist sympathiser.